Minnesota's legal community in the 1850s and early 1860s was the subject of a chapter written by Charles E. Flandrau for Edward D. Neill's "History of Ramsey County and the City of St. Paul, Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota," and J. Fletcher Williams's "Outlines of the History of Minnesota," published in one volume in 1881.

Flandrau practiced law throughout Minnesota during this period. His writings are based on memory not archival research. In this chapter, he mentions many of his legal compatriots, thus introducing those of us living and practicing over a hundred fifty years later to the pathfinders of the legal profession in this state.
Flandrau (1828-1903) served on the Territorial Supreme Court in 1857 and 1858 and on the Minnesota Supreme Court from 1858 to 1864.